


Things change

by EdwardHyde



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Whump
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:47:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28234905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdwardHyde/pseuds/EdwardHyde
Summary: Mabel goes home. Dipper stays to be Ford's assistant. Bill finds the whole thing hilarious and exploita
Kudos: 6





	Things change

A week had passed since he had accepted Ford's apprenticeship.

Dipper and Mabel's birthday had come and gone, but for the first time he could remember, there had been no laughter, no... Mabel. All because he had decided to stay. It was tearing him up; he was barely sleeping, spending hours in his room agonizing over all the things he’d said, all the things Mabel had said. After the huge fight, she had actually moved into Ford's old room. Ford mostly fell asleep in the lab, so he hardly noticed. Dipper couldn't avoid it. Waking up without Mabel bouncing off the walls nearby everyday, without her smile in the mornings… Not that she’d be smiling now, as sulky as she was. He told himself he was just getting a head start on having a room to himself. He'd have to get used to it eventually.

On the morning Mabel left, Dipper didn't so much wake up as not sleep. Here it was. Last chance to change his mind. He thought he could stick with his decision, but as he stared at the ceiling, Dipper knew that there was just as much chance that as soon as he saw her all packed up, he’d cave, gather his stuff, and join her. He wasn’t sure which would be worse: that, or watching her leave. As he sat up, rubbing his eyes, he stared at Mabel's empty bed, just like every morning. Maybe he lingered there a little longer, prolonging the inevitable. 

Finally, he got dressed and headed downstairs slowly, dreading the goodbyes. Would she even say goodbye? When he got there, Mabel was already packed, sitting in the kitchen, just staring down at the tabletop. The bus wouldn't leave for another twenty minutes. "How long have you been up?" Dipper asked. No response. He had to be a bit impressed: he'd never seen Mabel so quiet for so long. Then again, they had never had a fight like this. "Look, I know you're mad at me. And you're gonna be mad for a while, and I get it. Change is hard. But… this isn't the end, Mabel. You can still visit during the summer, and we can email each other... It doesn't have to be like this." He didn’t really expect a response. After a moment’s pause, he started pouring himself some cereal.

Mabel looked up, a few strands of hair in her face, and spoke. "You're right. It doesn't. Come back to Piedmont, and I won't have to be mad anymore." Mabel offered, her voice cracking with her desperate last offer. Dipper stared at her, then down at the floor. So that was it. This was the moment, the last chance to change his mind. It wasn't too late. He could pack up, say goodbye to the Grunkles, promise to send them a postcard. He could hop on the bus with Mabel and go home. He thought of the time he'd have with Mabel, growing up together, supporting each other through all the awkward teenage years to come, and beyond.

But.. It would still be Piedmont. Where everyone knew him by a name that made him gag, and called him worse things when Mabel wasn’t around. Piedmont, where his parents were always away on business trips or late night meetings. Where the most supernatural thing for miles is the abandoned KFC down the road. 

He couldn’t throw away his whole life, his dreams for that. And here in Gravity Falls, Dipper wasn't the freakiest thing around. In fact, for the first time in his life, Dipper felt like he belonged somewhere, like he was meant to be here. He couldn’t afford to ignore that.

He told himself, Mabel would be fine. She'd be so popular in high school, she'd barely have time to miss him. She belonged in Piedmont. "You know why I can't do that." Dipper said, quietly but definitively. Silence fell again. He had lost his appetite. Dipper got up and rinsed the his cereal down the sink. Mabel checked the time, then stood, grabbing her bag. "...I'm gonna miss you," Dipper said quietly. He wanted to go in for a sibling hug, but the look on her face discouraged him before he'd even taken a step. "Bye, then," He mumbled, looking at the ground. "I'll take care of Waddles for you." When Dipper looked back up, she was gone.

He shook his head. It was okay. This would be okay. They both just needed time. He kept telling himself that. He started to walk to the attic, then paused, and headed to the room Mabel had been sleeping in. He wasn’t sure what possessed him to do it, but he needed to see if she’d left anything for him. Her scrapbook was lying on the floor. Dipper picked it up. The last page just said “Today, I lost my brother.” No illustrations, no photographs, sequins, or glitter, nothing. 

He set the book down. He walked up to his room numbly and laid down on the bed, staring at the ceiling.

He wasn’t sure how long passed, or what he’d even been thinking about. He just vaguely recognized that the tears on the sides of his face were starting to dry and something felt off about the room. Like he was being watched. “Bill?” Dipper called out quietly, after a long silence. The world went gray, and a hole in the universe built itself up piece by piece into the familiar fashionable triangle, twirling his cane.

“Well well well, look who’s finally ready to hear me out!”

Dipper rolled his eyes and sat up, wiping his cheeks of tear stains. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. I still don’t trust you.”

“Oh ho ho, you don’t have to trust me, Pine Tree! All you have to do is hear me out.”  
Dipper sighed. “Just skip to the part where you tell me what it’ll cost to bring Mabel back.”  
Bill chuckled. “Just a little something-something, barely even a favor! All you gotta do is get that contained rift out from your backpack and smash it on the floor!”

Dipper clenched his fists, then hesitantly headed to pick up his backpack from the floor. He unzipped it. “What…?” There was no rift. It dawned on him slowly and he looked up with horror.

“Well, this is a turn of pace!” Bill laughed. “Time to check on a certain Shooting Star. See you later, loser!” And he flipped out of the room, crashing upside down through the wall. The gray faded and Dipper rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, looking around in confusion for a second.

“Mabel!" He raced downstairs and out the door to go find her. He had to save Mabel before Bill did something horrible to her.


End file.
